Article published in:
Interacting with Objects: Language, materiality, and social activity
Edited by Maurice Nevile, Pentti Haddington, Trine Heinemann and Mirka Rauniomaa
[Not in series 186] 2014
► pp. 249–268

Having a ball

Immaterial objects in dance instruction

This chapter looks at how immaterial objects are manipulated into being for pedagogical purposes. Dance teachers employ objects to visualise subtle tactile and kinaesthetic experiences. The objects emerge in a situated manner within activity metaphors where alternative bodily activities are juxtaposed with the dance movement, taking for granted that these alternative activities are tacitly known or more basic. The objects have a temporally limited existence within activity metaphors that involve verbal explanations as well as embodied demonstrations of both the dance and the alternative activity. Furthermore, participants are shown to orient differently to mere object-implying gestures as opposed to fully-fledged whole-body enactments. In the latter, objects may be maintained collectively across time.
Published online: 12 September 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.186.11kee
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